Iran announces plans to bring in maritime fees for strait of Hormuz | Iran
Iran announced that it plans to switch to a maritime fee system in the Strait of Hormuz within two months, following the 60-day negotiation process that started with the signing of the memorandum of understanding.
Tehran, which claims to have won a historic victory against the United States, said the strait was under its control and that a European plan for a naval mission to escort ships through the strait would not be welcomed.
The warning came after Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “maintain the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as our security needs require it,” referring to the more than 600 square kilometers of Lebanese territory occupied by Israeli troops along the border.
On Iran, Netanyahu said Israel would “remain committed to its highest goal” of not allowing Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran insists that the agreement on Lebanon’s territorial integrity requires a complete Israeli withdrawal, making Donald Trump responsible for Israel’s withdrawal.
Israeli drone strikes and artillery bombardment continued on Thursday morning. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against Israeli forces in the Kfar Tebnit-Ali al-Taher area in recent days.
The threats to the deal came after the official ceremony for the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, scheduled for Friday, was cancelled.
Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian have already personally signed the document, which has been translated into English and Persian.
The cancellation of the official ceremony means chief negotiator Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif will no longer travel to Switzerland, a welcome blow to Pakistan in the global spotlight.
US vice president JD Vance admitted he still plans to go to Switzerland but doesn’t know what will happen.
Iran said technical-level talks between the two sides would continue at the Qatari-owned luxury mountain resort of Bürgenstock on the shores of Lake Lucerne.
The talks, which are the first direct meeting between the two sides since the meeting in Islamabad on April 12, will focus on how to implement the 14-point agreement, including how to lift sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and ensure that commercial traffic begins to flow freely through the Strait of Hormuz.
At the White House briefing, Vance said the order to lift the blockade of Iranian ports had already been sent and more than a dozen ships were heading to Iran. US troops will be withdrawn to pre-war levels within 30 days, the official said, adding that copies of the memorandum officially published by the Trump administration were sent to Congress.
Dealing a blow to those hoping for full and permanent freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Bagher Galibaf, said that the strait must be managed and that this will come with a price.
However, Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud opposed Iran’s plan. “Before the conflict, the management of the Strait was working very well. There were no problems. Ships were sailing freely. There was no security problem. There was no environmental problem.”
“So why would we accept a new regulation to be imposed on it now, as a result of a conflict? To me, that doesn’t make sense. So I think we need to go back to the way things were, and it worked, and that should be the end of it.”
Muath Alwari, the UAE’s director of policy planning, said the UAE was likely the recipient of many of Iran’s attacks during the war, targeting hotels, tourist attractions and civilian infrastructure.
He added that the UAE’s relationship with Israel had strengthened because it viewed Israel as a solid defense partner during the war.
Alwari said the country’s relationship with Israel will only deepen after the war. “This does not change the calculus that initially motivated us to follow the Abraham Accords.” The agreements normalized relations between the UAE and Israel.
These two statements from prominent Gulf figures came as Iran’s foreign ministry began the long process of repairing relations with its Gulf allies. He hopes the Gulf will contribute significantly to the planned $350 billion Iran construction fund that the United States has agreed to establish and is largely expected to attract private sector investors in the region.
While Iranian Economy Minister Seyed Ali Madanizadeh said that the US exemption for Iran’s oil exports would not provide an economic gain, experts said it could only lead to a small increase in production in the short term.
He said the war had led to a significant decrease in revenues, a drastic drop in oil income, which had intensified the budget imbalance, adding: “It’s not like everything will just return to normal.”
